What would legalizing marijuana mean for East Texas courts? – KLTV

EAST TEXAS (KLTV) -The debate over whether marijuana should be legalized in Texas makes many wonder what legalization would do to the court system.
There are some in the East Texas court systems who say the legalization of marijuana could take a lot of cases out of the courtroom and ease the dockets of judges. But it also comes with a possible new set of problems.
Marijuana possession cases regularly appear on the dockets of Gregg County courts.
“On the numbers that I see on a day-to-day basis, it would definitely impact it, [it would] significantly be lower if marijuana was legalized,” says justice of the peace precinct 1 Judge B.H. Jameson.
“I think it would have the largest impact on the misdemeanor dockets because so many of the offenses are misdemeanor offense. It would have some impact on the felony cases, but not nearly as much,” said 124th district court judge Alfonso Charles.
Judge Becky Simpson sees a lot of marijuana cases in juvenile court at the Gregg County court of law 1.
“I have so many young people tell me they are in fact addicted to marijuana, and that they can’t stop smoking. I perhaps would have fewer cases, but many of the times people who are arrested for possession of marijuana, they also have another charge as well. So I don’t know that it would dramatically affect my docket,” she says.
State representative David Simpson and Gregg County Commissioner Darryl Primo both support legalization, saying it’s time to take a new view on marijuana.
But judges foresee new problems with legalization.
“They’ll have to set standard such as operating equipment , motor vehicles. I still think there’s going to be restrictions placed as far as the court system goes,” Jameson says.
“Would it be legalized just for small quantities, for user amount, or across the board huge amounts; if you’re going to legalize it, how are you going to regulate it,” says Charles.
But those who have already gone through the court systems on marijuana charges may not be helped by legalization.
“I believe that would take effect for only offenses on or after September 1, 2015,” Charles says.
“If a person is placed on probation, they would still not be allowed to consume or smoke marijuana, just like they can’t drink alcohol, that would still be unlawful conduct while on probation.”
The judges added that if marijuana were legalized, it …Read More